menu Monday. You are what you eat.

I mentioned in my post last night that I had been in a sort of funk...

But I got so distracted asking for rain dances that I forgot to tell you about my trip back from the blahs.

For a few weeks now, food has been a low priority. Which is always how I can tell when I am struggling as I am truly food obsessed by nature. When I get to the point that nothing sounds good, or I just eat because I am hungry and wind up eating a ton of junk, I know I'm down in the dumps.

So, here we were with very little edible food in the house and a hunger in my belly saying, "well just maybe you should cook something..." We have been overly dependent on eating out, especially me... since by default I end up eating restaurant food five to six meals a week at work.

I could not decide what to make first. What a good sign. I went from not being interested in cooking anything to not being able to decide what recipe to try first.

I sat down at the computer, looking back at recipes from pinterest, pulling out some old favorites, checking to see what was needing to be eaten out of our freezer. I compared my work schedule: my only close the night that Pete is out of town. And suddenly, I was meal planning!

Okay, I'm a geek. But food speaks to me. And when I've been blah, I can usually whip up a few extra vegetables for the week and turn my spirits right around.

After a trip to the grocery store, I was all set to get started! Pete had bought some meats at the store a few nights prior so I got to just mostly shop for vegetables, which is my favorite part of the store.

When I came home, I made my plan. I clipped up the necessary recipes to my menu board and got some prep done. I whipped up a few things in advance so that, "I had a long day at work," didn't become an excuse for Wendy's midweek.

So, without further nonsensical blabbering, here is what is for dinner this week!
Monday: We are just about to sit down to sweet potato and chorizo enchiladas. (I got the recipe here: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/02/chorizo-sweet-potato-enchiladas-908.html) Its a new recipe for me but it has all sorts of things I love: sweet potatoes, chorizo, green chile sauce... Oh the smell is killing me! I better finish up this post quick!

Tuesday: I promised Pete eggplant parmesan weeks ago and I am finally going to deliver on that. We both love eggplant and I happen to make a pretty mean eggplant parm. I'm not committed enough to make my own marinara this week so its our favorite standby, sockarooni!

Wednesday: I'm a mid (11-8?ish?) so the slow cooker is all the rage. We are having barbecue pork sandwiches after slow cooking a couple pork chops all day. I attempted to make my own barbecue sauce last night, but it came out WAY too sweet so unless I can think of a way to tone back the sugar, I'll have to pop into the store for some sauce.

Thursday: I'm helping out at an event for a non-profit serving "hearty niblets" (literally, that is what the invite says. So it will be back home late in the evening for some leftovers (but it looks like we will have great stuff to choose from, eh?)

Friday: Pete flies off to DC for his reunion with his scout platoon from his first deployment and I'm headed to run a closing shift at the restaurant for what will probably be the busiest day of the year. So I'm not going hungry! I'm making up some black bean and corn flautas I saw on pinterest a while ago: http://www.phi-style.com/?cat=53

Saturday: Its a lazy day around the house with no husband to entertain me on my days off. And I'm making pizza for my day off from the restaurant! I'm enamored with spaghetti squash and so I just couldn't pass up this recipe: http://www.jennifervagios.com/2011/12/the-non-pizza-pizza-squash-style/

Sunday: We spend the day at the lake for Pete's grandparents 50th anniversary. No specific menu plans that I've been asked for, but one thing about Pete's family is they always throw one heck of a party, so I'm sure I won't starve.

I'm looking forward to some new recipes, a challenge to serve dinner every night and some delicious, pretty healthy eating in the meantime.

That's all for now friends, its time to enjoy!